


Lightning Before The Thunder

by cheetoskittle



Series: The Bricksburg Police Department [4]
Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Case Fic, Gen, Murder Mystery, emmet: plz let me go home, it gets pretty bad for the detective ngl, plot: n o
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-11-27 10:10:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18193199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheetoskittle/pseuds/cheetoskittle
Summary: When Detective Emmet is assigned a case in Systar City, on the flip side of the Stairgate Mountains, things can’t seem to get worse.What’s worse than being sent to a place where you’re one hundred percent guranteed to be faced with hostility and hate?Being stuck there to solve a case.Even then, things start to go downhill from rock bottom at the very beginning.Now, Emmet’s going to have to work with some very unlikely people- including his coworker’s girlfriend -in order to solve the case and get back home.





	1. Just a young gun

There wasn’t much you could say about the war that had nearly tore the two regions on either side of the Stairgate Mountains apart.

What you  _could_ say was rooted in bias and lies depending on which side of the range you lived. Everything taught to children after the war’s end was based upon one fact: The other end is wrong.

That was it. It didn’t matter if your facts were  _wrong_ , just if they supported your side of the range or not.

So, truthfully, the only way to get true information about the war was to find it from an outside source, like one of the bystander regions. But even they didn’t have the full picture, for how could you say what happened if you didn’t experience it yourself?

The war was one topic that caused division between the Stairgate regions to this day. Who was right and  who was wrong? It wasn’t easy to say, and that was why if you were from one region you just _didn't_ go to the other side.

People hold grudges, that’s one thing that’s absolutely true. And it’s especially true for these people, who manage to hold grudges for over a century; all hate that’s directed from the south side of the region to the north and back can find its origin in the Stairgate War.

The thing to think about here, now, is this: can people hold grudges against ones who didn’t cause them ham in the first place? And can people let go of ingrained hatred in order to achieve a common goal? 

It was only a matter of time before one detective would find out.

 

———

 

“Oh my GOD, Emmet, do you really have to eat that many donuts?” Unikitty asked, rolling her eyes almost to the back of her skull.

It was a dreary winter day, rain beating the windows of the Department since six in the morning. It was strange, since just yesterday all signs of winter had faded and spring had come into full view. Today was a bleak reminder that the season still had three full weeks left in its runtime.

”Uh,  _duh_ , Officer Insanity!” Emmet laughed, stuffing another sprinkled donut into his mouth. “How do you think I get by every day? By eating carrot sticks like Sir Healthy over there?” He pointed across the floor to where Good Cop sat at his desk, organizing his pencil case. The officer didn’t notice the detective’s joke and went on with his task.

”Well, I think you still need to, like, NOT eat a hundred of those a day?” Unikitty said, reaching for the box Emmet had brought in earlier. “You wanna be able to actually solve cases, y’know.”

Emmet frowned when Unikitty took his donut box away. “Ugh. You NEVER let me have fun, huh?”

”Who never lets who have any fun? What did I miss?”

Emmet and Unikitty turned their swivel chairs to face the newcomer. It was Benny, his uniform as blue as ever, carrying... a box of donuts.

”OH MY GOD.” Unikitty groaned. “I try to keep ya ALIVE for more that forty years and THIS is how you repay me...” She shook her head and turned back to her desk, starting her daily tasks by organizing the stack of papers she’d lay there yesterday.

”What’s in Scratch-A-Lot’s pants today? Fire ants?” Benny asked, setting the pink box down on Emmet’s desk. Emmet laughed.

”Oh, she’s just in a twist because apparently I eat too many sugary things, and now you come in...” he waved to the box, smiling. Today was his lucky day.

”So she got into the healthy cooking shows again, huh?” Benny said, sitting in his chair, directly across from Emmet. “Didn’t we tell her  _not_ to do that ever again after the whole cupcake fiasco?”

Emmet frowned, reminiscing that day. He’d accidentally bitten into a spinach cupcake, and ended up retching his ENTIRE lunch into the toilet. He’d vowed that day to never eat food that Unikitty made ever again.

”Yeah, I remember.” Emmet said instead of retelling the whole gruesome story. Benny didn’t need to hear, he was there for every horrible second.

Benny was about to open his mouth again when Metalbeard slammed open the Department doors. He was soaking wet, like had forgotten his umbrella in the middle of the storm.

”Forgot me dast umbrella in the middle of the storm...” he grumbled.

Oh, so he did.

”Woah, what happened to Mr. Navy Man?” Bad Cop teased, since he’d actually remembered his umbrella and therefore wasn’t so wet it looked like he’d walked through a waterfall.

”Shut it, Officer.” Metalbeard said, stomping by the mocking cop. He set himself down in his desk, immediately making the seat as wet as he was, groaning the whole way. 

“How’d you end up like that, dude?” Benny asked, shaking his head. He HATED being wet, and just the mere sight of his coworker being like that made him shiver.

”Yeah, spill the beans!” Emmet laughed. He, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with seein Metalbeard like that. As long as it wasn’t  _him_.

”Nah. Ya don’t wanna hear the nasty parts.” Metalbeard said simply, typing his password into his computer. As best as he could, at least. His prosthetics were... a bit strained after being in the rain for so long.

”NASTY? It got nasty?!” Unikitty overheard, turning so fast Emmet was sure she go whiplash. If there was one thing Unikitty was known for, it was this: always wanting to hear the pets others would deem... unlikable. In other words, the ‘nasty’ parts.

”Ya really wanna hear about the lady who flirted with me, an’ when I said no stole my umbrella right there in the subway train? Ya wanna hear the exact flirts?” Metalbeard said, corners of his mouth curling up. He loved freaking people out.

”DUH! TRY ME, OLD MAN!” Unikitty yelled, threatening Metalbeard with her angry-side’s voice. Anything could happen if she faked that voice.

”Well, prepare yerselves!” Metalbeard laughed, rubbing his hands together. They’d regained some mobility, and were now ready to enunciate every nasty word.

”WHOA, whoa!” Emmet said, trying to stop the whole operation. “I never agreed to this! I have to WORK here, ya know!” He shivered in his chair just  _thinking_ about how if METALBEARD though it was nasty, it was NASTY.

”Yeah! You can do this later, like, just a suggestion, WHEN WE’RE NOT HERE?” Benny said, desperate to change the topic of the conversation. He, as much as Emmet, hated nasty things.

”Awwww!” Unikitty whined, pouting as best as she could.

”Not gonna work! Sort out your grudge match if grossness at lunch or something!” Emmet said, averting his eyes from Unikitty’s guilt trip. If he didn’t look, it wouldn’t work.

”Cowards.” Metalbeard said before turning to his computer. He, like Unikitty, had loads of paperwork to fill out since... the last incident that occurred. (Let’s just say, the two were at the same scene together and... stuff happened.)

Emmet smiles, turning to the box on his table. He’d nearly forgotten about it while he was trying to stop the disastrous conversation waiting to happen, and was ready to open it to see what Benny had gotten when-

“Brickowski!”

Emmet turned to where he’d heard his name called from. It was the Department’s boss and captain, Vitruvius, calling him to his office.

”Why?” Bad Cop asked, suddenly appearing at his side. He was always interested in the things that happened in the big office. This was no exception.

”Dunno.” Emmet replied, pushing back his chair. He stood, and walked over to where the big office was. He’d only been there when he’d been assigned a case, and now, Emmet assumed, he was basing assigned a case.

It was only until later he wished he’d been wrong about his assumption.

But now he was just excited; it was probably important, since the like kn Vitruvius’s face sold it all. Emmet NEVER got assigned important cases, being the newest detective here and all.

”Why’d you call me up here?” Emmet asked his boss, when he’d gotten into the  office and sat in one of the best chairs the Department had. It wasn’t the best chair in the city, because the Department’s chairs SUCKED, but it was the best it the building.

”I called you up here for a reason.” Vitruvius said, picking up a file. 

It was a case file.

Emmet was VERY interested.

”I’ve assigned you a case...” Vitruvius began to say. Emmet didn’t know that the very next thing he would say would, ultimately, change the course of, at the very least, his career. (The VERY LEAST.)

 

Emmet returned to the floor and his desk with a bleak look in his face. He sat in his chair, completely ignoring his donuts, his work, and his coworkers.

”You okay?” Benny asked. Emmet didn’t answer. He simply nodded: no.

Emmet was rarely ever NOT okay.

He rarely ever didn’t talk, too. He was rarely so shaken that Metalbeard felt uncomfortable just looking at him.

Something was off.

Very, very off.

”Something happen? Were you assigned a case?” Unikitty asked, typing away in her computer. She was worried, but not enough to turn around.

She turned around when Emmet spoke next.

Everyone turned around that could HEAR what he’d said. The implications of what had happened in the office were big; even bigger than what any of them had ever dealt with.

”I was assigned a case in Systar City.”

 

 

 


	2. With a quick fuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the first thing people do when they find out you’re not from Systar City is get mad, Emmet knows the case is gonna be... pretty darn bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHAT I DIDNT FORGET ABOUT THIS !! HAHA!!

Rain patterned on the windows of the bus. Emmet didn’t know how long he’d been riding, but he knew that every second was a second closer to...  _that_ place. Systar City.

The one place that the citizens, given the opportunity, would one hundred percent throw him off a cliff. 

It wasn’t personal or anything. It was just that... the war happened years ago, and some people couldn’t let go of these types of things. Even if they didn’t live through them.

It was that type of irrational hate that Emmet was dreading having to go through. Would people be able to tell he was from Bricksburg, from the other side of the Stairgate Mountains? That he was from the side that nearly destroyed the Systar region all those years ago?

Emmet was going to find out pretty soon. 

The bus was already pulling into the station, much to Emmet’s dismay. He been hoping it would, like, break down. So he wouldn’t have to go and solve the case in the region that hated him the most. But no such luck, he was here now and there was no turning back.

He stood up, taking one last look out the window. It was dark, dim. Back at Bricksburg, everything’s had seemed so light and... _happy_. What had happened here to make the city like this?

Emmet shook those thoughts out of his head and walked down the aisle. The bus was empty, nobody daring to go from one side of the Stairgate Range to the other. Why couldn’t he have done the same?

The bus driver didn’t look at Emmet as he disembarked. Emmet couldn’t tell if he was Systarian or what, but that wasn't a problem right now. The driver simply grunted, and when Emmet stepped on the bus station platform, closed the doors and zoomed away.

Lucky. He wished he could do-

Emmet suddenly felt like he was missing something.

_His bag_.

He’d left his bag on the bus. In his bag were the case files, his badge, everything...

He’d just lost everything, hadn’t he? Emmet had been thinking about how th wonky way he’d get a shrivel of respect was if people knew he was a detective- How’d he do that now? He was just a random guy from the wrong side of the range, without his badge and papers.

Emmet looked around. There seemed to be nobody on the bus platform; everyone seemed to have gone inside to shelter themselves from the rain. He should probably do that, too.

He turned, trying to forget about his very big problem. The bus station doors were, for some reason, open. Emmet walked through, trying to think about happy things. The Systarians who were sutting I side the building were looking at him now. He just needed to think about happy things.

Like Lucy. She’d been so sad when she found out that he was being fired to work on a case in Systar City. They’d gone on a last minute date yesterday, to celebrate Emmet’s first real case and also to make sure the last thing Emmet knew of Bricksburg was a happy memory.

You know. In case he didn’t come back. 

His coworkers knew- hoped- it would get that bad. Only Benny knew of the troubles someone from Bricksburg would have in Systar City, and he’d been on a call with his girlfriend when Emmet had asked for reassurance.

From the stories Benny had told before, though, of having to hide from gangs and  fake his identity just to see Mayhem, Systar City was a... bad place to be.

Really bad, now that the Systarian were starting to  _talk_ to each other about the newcomer. Emmet didn’t wanna be there for when they reached the conclusion to their conversation, so he tried to walk faster to the station’s exit-

“Hey, you!”

Crap.

Emmet stopped. Why did he stop?! He should just keep going, then he could just escape-

“Yes?” Emmet said. Oh, no. He was making conversation with the Systarian now. Didn’t his coworkers directly advis him NOT to do that..?

”Did you come off that bus?” A stranger, who had been sitting on a bench, said. He looked like he’d seen (and been a part of) a fair share of street fights. “‘Cause that bus comes from the  _other side_ , an’ we don’t want people from there here.”

Emmet didn’t know what to say. From glancing at the schedule, there hadn’t been any other buses come if at this time. If he’d come from an earlier bus, then his story would include standing on the platform, in the rain, for three hours, and... that kinda wasn’t a very great lie story.

”Well?” Another stranger said, this one a woman. She looked to be older than the man, due to the sheer number of wrinkles, scars, and... other features. Like tattoos.

The other Systarians were starting to get up, too, now. They were gathering around Emmet, something he very much didn’t like. Didn’t these people know manners?

“He came off the bus.” One of the crowd strangers said. Emmet couldn’t tell which one talked, since they were so tightly packed. They had formed a ring around Emmet by now, leaving him no ways to escape.

”So he’s from there?” The first man said. He suddenly got VERY mad, as if the very possibility of being in the proximity of someone from Bricksburg would give him the plague. (For him, it probably did.)

“Oh my god.” The woman said. “You shouldn't be here, ya know that?!” Emmet KNEW that, and he didn’t say anything about it. What was he supposed to say when his case filed and detective badge were currently being driven back to Bricksburg?

”Uh..?” Emmet said instead of trying to negotiate with the angry Systarians. Wow, he really wasn’t great under pressure, huh? Wasn’t a detective supposed to be? What kind of-

CRACK!

Emmet’s vision blacked out for a second after the man punched him.

Then he could see again, he realized that, oh, his jaw was SCREAMING. Like, how could a man punch that HARD?

The man, on the other hand, was smiling. Like a maniac. Which he probably was.

”Get out or webreak your puny little legs next.” The woman said, waving to the crowd, which had given him a small way to exit. Emmet was so thankful, he couldn't think about the fact that his jaw was probably gonna fall off.

He’d never run so fast.

Why’d he have to lose his files?

Emmet had just made this a LOT harder for himself. It seemed he did that a lot these days, with the birthday party and all that. This just seemed like the WORST place to do it.

The ABSOLUTE worst.

 


	3. I was uptight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which... everything’s bad. Not gonna lie. Emmet really wishes he could go back... but that’s not gonna happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha I’m gonna do this if it kills me bc I love this AU (that I made but shhh)

If you could describe what Emmet wasn’t feeling when he ran out of the bus station with literally nothing in one word, that word would most likely be: 

Terrified.

What would  _you_ feel if you were from the ‘wrong side’ of the range, with no way for people to get the message that yes, you were a detective and therefore shouldn’t be beat up?

Terrified.

So Emmet had a point when he ducked into the nearest alleyway, about 500 feet from the station, and hid behind a box of... orange peels. 

That was the state of his situation. Hiding in an alleyway behind a box of orange peels, waaaaay too close to the station filled with people that would kill him given the chance. What kind of Department sent their best detective (he wasn’t but hey, give Emmet some leeway here) to Systar City, and expected him to come out NOT traumatized? Let alone ALIVE?

”Where’d the guy go?”

Emmet froze. Or, seized up all his muscles. Y’know, he was sitting down.

”I don’t know, he ran this way...”

Emmet could sorta recognize those voices. They were the people that had tried to beat him up like, one minute ago. Didn’t they let him  _go_ already? They said they’d let him go!

Were Systarians just that big of liars?

Probably.

“Wait, I think I saw him turn into this alley...” Emmet heard the voice of the big, tattooed guy from the circle.

 They were coming closer.

Crap.

Emmet didn’t know what to do at that point. He’d probably run into some gang at the station, and that gang had a serious problem with anyone from the other side of the range. Although, it seemed like EVERYONE in Systar City seemed to have a problem-

“Found you.”

Emmet felt a harsh hand on his shoulder. Looking up he saw...

Everyone in the circle. Circling around him. With pretty terrifying grins on their faces, to be honest. 

“Ya thought you could just run from us?” The big guy said. Emmet really didn’t know what to say.

”You let me go..?” 

Oh, no. Judging by the expression everyone suddenly had on their faces, that was the wrong answer. The wrong, wrong answer.

The big guy, who Emmet assumed was the leader, lifted his arm. Pointed at Emmet. Said one thing.

”Get him.” 

That was the last thing Emmet heard before they closed in.

———

Emmet woke up two hours later, on the floor of an alleyway. Wait, it was the same alley from before, wasn’t it? It was he just confused..?

Emmet tried to stand, but his leg was stuck on something. Looking behind, he saw it was a box of some sort. He tried to shake it off, but the thing was really, REALLY heavy.

”What’s in this thing?!” Emmet said to himself, finding that talking any louder made his whole chest hurt. Scratch that, his whole body hurt already. The box really wasn’t moving now.

Emmet scooter closet and pried open the thing with what little strength he had left. Inside was...

Orange peels.

So this WAS the same alley. Either that or the Systarians had some strange affinity for oranges.

It took five minutes for Emmet to scoop every peel out of the box until it was light enough for him to get loose. By then, it was beginning to rain. He’d been hoping to escape the weather on the bus ride to the city, but now it seemed inevitable.

He was getting soaked.

It didn’t look like he’d be getting a place to stay, with the way people somehow seemed to know he wasn’t from here, and not having any identification or money didn’t help. Oh, and he currently felt like the weight of the world was crushing his body at once. So that was nice.

”Stupid-“ he stopped to have a coughing fit, “-Systarians. I’m gonna get SICK now...”

He got up, slowly, so it didn’t feel like he was goin to snap his leg off. When he finally stood, Emmet realized something:

He didn’t know where he was.

At all.

Where would the SCPD building be in a city do complicated and... dirty as this?

Where would he start?

It was starting to pour hard. Emmet had just been attacked by a gang and trapped under a box of orange peels. He didn’t have a phone, money, or identification. And everyone HATED him.

Now he REALLY wished he were back home.

 


	4. Wanna let loose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayhem talks about the other side an Emmet walks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhh finally Mayhem appears!!!!!!

“Wasn’t the detective guy supposed to be here yesterday?”

 

Mayhem looked up from her laptop. “Huh?”

 

”The detective guy. Y’know, the one that was gonna come from the other side?” Ice Cream, Mayhem’s best friend, said.

 

”You mean Brickowski?” Mayhem said. “And he’s from Bricksburg, not ‘the other side’! I thought everyone was past this...”

 

”If you thought everyone was past this stuff, you’ve been living under a rock.” Ice Cream replied. “Remember the last person that came from the other side? We had to break up a gang war that happened only to decide who got to beat him up.”

 

Mayhem sighed. “I know. I just wish people would stop blaming innocents for something that happened before most of their grandparents were born.”

 

”You know that’s not how Systarians work, Mayhem.” Ice Cream said. “What do you think happened to the guy, anyway?”

 

”Oh, he probably just got lost.” Mayhem said. “You know, if people found out he was from the other side, they’d never give him directions.”

 

”So they probably did.”

 

”I don’t wanna believe that!” Mayhem shouted suddenly. Ice Cream looked at her, shocked. Everyone in the building did, in fact.

 

”You okay?” An Officer asked from across the room.

 

”...no.” Mayhem sighed.

 

———

 

Emmet didn’t know what he was going to do. Could you imagine, being stuck in Systar City without anything to actually help you... survive?

 

He’d lost everything, and now he’d lost his pride. Nobody would take being beat up in an alley for no reason well. Especially Emmet.

 

He couldn’t even tell his attackers that he was a detective, and had a reason to be here. They wouldn’t believe someone from the other side of the Stairgate Mountains. Nothing would change their minds.

 

The worst part was that emmet didn’t even think he could tell the police. After all, the police were all Systarians, and Systarians hard anyone from the other side with a burning passion. Emmet didn’t even remember what the war all those years ago had been about; it was something taught in school and later forgot about.

 

Emmet nearly laughed when he thought about that. In Bricksburg, people forgot about the war almost as soon as it was taught. Maybe that was something Systarians needed to learn to do; forgive and forget.

 

Every part of Emmet’s body hurt.

 

He didn’t know if he could walk all the way to the police department.

 

He didn’t even know where the darn place was.

 

Oh, this was terrible.

 

Emmet decided to just start walking. It was pouring rain, and he was going to eat soaked either way. Nobody would dare take him in. For some reason, the mere mention of someone from the other side beings in the City seemed to spread like wildfire.

 

From the outside, you couldn’t even tell he was from Bricksburg. The only reason he was discovered was because people had seen the bus he’d come off of. And now, everyone would know what he looked like... and who to avoid.

 

Everything SUCKED.

 

And Emmet had to keep walking.

 

———

 

Mayhem hated everything her coworkers said about the other side.

 

They wouldn’t even call it Bricksburg! Why did people try so hard to keep grudges for things that didn’t even happen to them? Did bad things pass through the generations?

 

Mayhem had walked out of the main building and out onto the sidewalk. She needed fresh air from the people inside. Even her best friend, Ice Cream, who had whole heartedly supported her decision to go over to Bricksburg and eventually fall in love with an officer there, called Bricksburg the other side.

 

It was stupid.

 

From everything Mayhem had seen of the ‘other side’, people were WAAAAAAY nicer there. They didn’t seem to bat an eye when she mentioned she was from Systar City. All it took to get rid of a few sideways glances was just... to be nice.

 

Maybe that was what the Systarians needed to learn. Being nice. Maybe if they were just NICE to the Bricksburg citizens that came over, more would actually make the trip.

 

Maybe then, the Systarians wouldn’t have a reason to call them ‘spoiled’, ‘hateful’, and literally every insult ever. Because the only HALF REAL reason they had to be mad was that they never came over. They ‘acted like they were better’, supposedly.

 

The acting like they were better was just them staying away from people that would never accept them, would hurt them.

 

The only reason the Systarians had to be mad was THEIR OWN FAULT. They were causing their own city to fall into disrepair, because they were so focused on justifying their hatred.

 

Mayhem just wanted everyone to get along. Maybe that was why she was so happy that Benny didn’t care where she was from. Because then she truly knew that Bricksburg citizens didn’t care.

 

Systarians cared too much about things that didn’t need to be cared about.

 

That was everything wrong with Systar City.


	5. I was dreaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mayhem finds a detective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorty bc writers block

“I’m going out to find him.”

 

Ice Cream looked Mayhem straight in th eye.

 

”No.”

 

Mayhem grunted. “I’m going And you can’t stop me.”

 

”You can’t just go out in this storm to find someone from the other side.”

 

”Will you STOP saying he’s from the other side and just say he’s from  Bricksburg? What’s wrong with saying where he’s from?!” Mayhem said. Sometimes Ice Cream could get in her nerves.

 

Ice Cream sighed. “You don’t get it, do you?”

 

Mayhem frowned. “Get what?”

 

”Nobody knows the detective is from the other side. The only way I could get them to approve of him coming here was by not telling them of his origins.”

 

Mayhem stared at Ice Cream. “Are you SERIOUS?”

 

”Yep.”

 

Mayhem glared at Ice Cream. “You do know that if they find out you lied, they’re gonna feed you to the mob, right?”

 

”Absolutely. But I couldn’t risk your reputation, seeing as you’re the only sane one in this place.” Ice Cream said. “It seems like everyone waiting to take your place just wants more and more divide.”

 

”Then why do you still call it the other side?” Mayhem asked.

 

”I do it because unlike you, people will actually eat me alive if I don’t call it that.”

 

Mayhem half smiled. “Guess that’s fair.”

 

Ice Cream sighed. “Go on. Find him. I’ll cover for you.”

 

Mayhem smiled fully this time. “Thank you so much!”

 

Ice Cream rolled his eyes. “After the whole boyfriend situation, I’m afraid I have no choice but to get involved in your problems. No hard feelings.”

 

”None taken.”

 

———

 

Mayhem had been searching for an hour when she finally found him.

 

The Department was located at the very center of Systar City, so Mayhem had no real idea of where to go to look for the detective. There was only one possible option: the bus station.

 

Mayhem knew that by now, he shouldn’t be there. But, by now, he should have come to the station. So anything was possible. Maybe she’d run into him on the way there. She just didn’t know.

 

Shed been losing hope that the detective would ever be found when she found him.

 

Funny how that worked.

 

The detective looked so happy to see her.

 

Mayhem didn’t know how to feel, honestly. His face was happy; he’d seen her before. But the rest of him? Not good. Very very very not good.

 

”What happened to you..?”

 

The detective looked at her. They hadn’t spoken since they locked eyes, when Mayhem found him wandering around the streets sixteen miles from the Department. So it was a surprise when she talked to him.

 

”What?”

 

Mayhem sighed. “You know... what happened? Why weren’t you at the station? What happened to you?”

 

The detective’s eyes trailed to the ground.

 

”I honestly don’t know myself.”

 

 

 


End file.
